What we search for in fiction is not so much reality, but the epiphany of truth.

Khatami is a symptom and not the cause of change in Iran.

Art is as useful as bread.

I see people who talk about America, and then undermine it by not paying attention to its soul, to its poetry. I see polarization, reductionism and superficiality.

I believe in empathy. I believe in the kind of empathy that is created through imagination and through intimate, personal relationships. I am a writer and a teacher, so much of my time is spent interpreting stories and connecting to other individuals. It is the urge to know more about ourselves and others that creates empathy. Through imagination and our desire for rapport, we transcend our limitations, freshen our eyes, and are able to look at ourselves and the world through a new and alternative lens.

What we search for in fiction is not so much reality, but the epiphany of truth.

Reality has become so intolerable, she said, so bleak, that all I can paint now are the colors of my dreams.